High drama unfolded outside the Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate at CBD-Belapur on Thursday, as the family of missing Constable Somnath Kashinath Fapale, joined by villagers from his native Ahmednagar district, staged a sit-in protest demanding answers about his disappearance.

Fapale, attached to Rabale police station, was deputed for Ganpati visarjan bandobast duty at Vashi police station on September 4. That was 15 days ago. Despite frantic searches, there has been no trace of him, leaving his family anguished and enraged. On Thursday, dozens of relatives — including his wife, parents, uncles and fellow villagers from Lingdev in Akole taluka — marched to the commissionerate. Sitting at the main gate, they declared they would not move until the police gave them clarity.